rhode island? she got our attention with her reports. what she did to get probably canned. this is "way too early." probably canned, whoa. good morning, i'm thomas roberts. welcome to "way too early." the show where we encourage self-indull gant news inquiry. jan brewer in arizona, feeling more pressure over the state's religious prime minister bill. it would allow business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers. both john mccain and jeff flake encouraged brewer to veto that bill. and three state starts have come forward saying they are uncomfortable with their yes votes. it could cost the state millions of dollars. arizona is slated to host the

super bowl and while the nfl said it would not move the game officials said, our policies emphasize tolerance and prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. if the league did take action, it wouldn't be the first time that arizona lost a super bowl. in 1993 the nfl moved the big game to the rose bowl after the state refused to recognize martin luther king jr. day. the governor has until saturday to decide to veto the bill. if she takes no action, the bill becomes law. a few hours ago she tweeted, i assure you, as always, i will do the right thing for the state of arizona. and the question of religious freedom when it comes to states is not just an issue in arizona. state lawmakers in georgia are considering similar pieces of legislation. there are now two bills working through the state's house and senate. georgia currently does not have any laws banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.

the relationship between president obama and afghan president hamid karzai is for all intents and purposes over. president obama told the afghan leader that the u.s. military is prepping for a full withdrawal of american forces by the end of the year. the so-called zero option reflects white house frustration with his refusal to sign a long-term security agreement. that will depend on whether president karzai's successor signs on to the pack. now let's turn to ukraine's struggles after the government crumbled before our eyes. lawmakers agreed to delay picking a prime minister for two extra days. the three parties. ed more time to talk to each other and figure things you as the currency plummeted. they voted to try the country's president at the criminal court over the deadly crackdown on

protesters. right now there's still no site of the ukrainen president. they are warning banks that he may try to move stolen state assets. nbc news learned that nine marines based out of virginia have been sent there to beef up the security there. in just a few hours, house ways and means committee chairman is expected to release his plan to overhaul the nation's tax code. but the proposal already appears to be dead on arrival. the seven brackets would be reduced to two and the top rate would be cut to 25%. it also calls far 10% surtax on incomes above $450,000. but the democratic and republican leaders in the senate both agree the plan has no shot of passing and usual each blaming the other party. >> the truth is we should tackle tax reform years ago. it will be difficult with the

obstruction that we get here from the republicans on virtually everything to do something that should have been done years ago. >> the majority leader and the president have said they want a trillion dollars in new revenue for the federal government as a condition for doing kpre he comprehensive tax reform, which we know we ought to do. we will not be able to finish the job regretfully in 2014. >> senator mcconnell says he's more optimistic about reform if republicans control the house and senate after the midterm elections. joe biden sat down with the ladies of "the view" to talk about his political future. >> i want to ask you ab your power you may have in the future. i do not expect you to come on this program and announce that you're going to run for president. i won't object if you want to, do you want to? >> i'll tell you what, i'll make

you a deal. if you stick around, i will announce my decision with you. >> i'm not sure that's an option. if hillary clinton does not run, you have said if she runs for president you will not run. >> no, i haven't. >> then tell me what you said. >> you only run if you believe you're in better position to do what you think is most needed in the country. from politics to the the another event where biden talked up his basketball skills. the veep says he's got some. >> a couple good friends here. i told the president the next game i have. i may be a white man, but i can jump. >> elections are still months away, but the democrats are not waiting to pull out the big guns. bill clinton travelled to

kentucky to campaign for allison lundergan. clinton was the last to carry the state. in fron of a room of 1200 people he took aim at mitch mcconnell and the staunch opposition to obamacare. >> you know what in a sane environment people do when they have problems with a good objective? they fix the problems. the other choice is to just pout if you're not -- if your pear is not in the white house and make as many problems as you can, stop anything good from happening and if you cane stop it at least bad mouth it. and then when life being what it is and all of us being imperfect as we are, when there's a problem, do everything you can to make sure the problem is never fixed. it may work and get people torn

up and mad all the time. but it's a dumb way to run a country. >> so according to the latest poll in kentucky, it's still anybody's race with grimes leading mcconnell. mcconnell's unpopularity may be leading the polls. mitch mcconnell seems anything but worried about the former president campaigning in his home state. he was asked about it yesterday on capitol hill. >> welcome him back. the last time he ran in 1996 he eked out a narrow victory in kentucky while i beat the current gov any by 160,000 votes, 10 points. in 2008 both bill and hillary clinton came to town and i won by 100,000 votes. i welcome president clinton back to kentucky. every time he's come, it's been really good for me. >> there are some new signs of progress in the push to make children healthier. a study says the obesity rate of

kids has plummeted 45% in the last decade. in 2003 and 2004, 14% of kids that age were considered obese. now the number is just 8%. the study found a significant decline in the number of children drinking soda and other sugary drinks. the findings were announced as michelle obama marked the fourth anniversary of her let's move campaign. she said "i am thrilled at the progress we have made over last few years in obesity rates among our youngest americans. these last four years healthier habits are beginning to become the new norm. the first lay i announced that schools will no longer be able to have ads for junk foods around campus during the school day. let's turn our attention to business news. stocks declined from record closes. y >> good morning. it's interesting. the markets are looking for

direction at the moment one gets the sense. here's a story they are looking at but they are puzzled. what is the future for bit coin here which sits parallel to the financial economy. we have had the collapse of this exchange in japan. this was a key trading place for bitcoin owners and about 6% or nearly $300 million worth of bitcoins have just seemed to disappear. what next for the virtual currency? a lot of people asking themselves that. on firmer ground, let's talks bricks and mortar. we had a survey out suggesting there will be volatility in home prices in the united states, but there will be big gainers as well. they looked at 50 districts, the top 5 over next 5 years could see price aappreciation of 31%. even the bottom 5 could see 11%.

so broadly it is a positive story for the u.s. housing market right now. back to you. >> i want to ask you about gm. it's doubling down on a recall they issued earlier this month after the company became aware of an ignition switch defect. the total amount of cars under recall comes to 1.4 million. earlier this month they recalled 6,000 vehicles including chevy cobalt models. now the recall has been expanded. gm is aware of 13 deaths from issues related to this recall. explain the impact of this. >> this is clearly a very large recall here. and there are some issues because it relates to potential fatalities. so we'll just have to watch that element of the story here. you know what, right now the market is giving gm the benefit of the doubt here. the new ceo, she's a new broom.

many of these issues won't relate to her time at the company. the stock is up over 30% on a 12-year story. even the results in early february were like, could have done better for the quarter, the market at the moment is not punishing gm stock too badly on this. but it is a slow burner story we'll have to watch just to see whether this turns more unpleasant this whole recall story. back to you. >> we'll keep our eye on it. we want to turn to the twitter question. we're talking about extreme die es. he has been following a pizza diet. he says he's eaten nothing but cheese, sauce and crust since he was a teen. while admitting to having diabetes, he's thin and energetic. tweet us your most creative answers. we're going to put the best answers coming up later in the show. 25 years on pizza. still ahead, the push to get

you out of work on opening day. how one hall of famer is trying to get you a brand new holiday. and billy ray cyrus is back on charts. the updated version of "achy breaky heart." that's when "way too early" comes right back. >> at this hour more than 500 rescue workers are there on the scene of a massive underground explosion that ripped through the world trade center just after noon today killing 5, injuring at least 500. [ female announcer ] when you're serious about fighting wrinkles,

turn to roc® retinol correxion®. one week, fine lines appear to fade. one month, deep wrinkles look smoother. after one year, skin looks ageless. high performance skincare™ only from roc®. ♪ every now and then i get a little bit hungry ♪ ♪ and there's nothing good around ♪ ♪ turn around, barry ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ [ female announcer ] fiber one. ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day.

but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have a bleeding condition or stomach ulcer, take aspirin, nsaids, or blood thinners... ...or if you have kidney problems, especially if you take certain medicines. tell your doctors about all medicines you take. pradaxa side effects include indigestion, stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you or someone you love has afib not caused by a heart valve problem... ...ask your doctor about reducing

the risk of stroke with pradaxa. welcome back. time for sports. a record setting night in college hoops. wichita state became the first men's team to reach 30-0 in the regular season. they crushed unranked bradley by 20 points last night. wichita has one more regular season game left. they are going to host missouri

state on saturday. a baseball hall of famer pushing to make opening day a national holiday for you. >> opening day should be a holiday. let's make it official. all we need is 100,000 signatures on the way to the white house. >> let's make that official. that's cardinals great ozzie smith. he's pushing an online petition to the obama administration. if he gets to 100,000 by march 26th, the white house will have to respond. one problem, what day is opening day? do you know? >> it's when i go to opening day at boston. it already is a holiday. >> the mlb has it officially for march 31st. >> it's about the rest of us. >> so march 31st. except several regular season games would have already been played by then. >> day after the super bowl, more important. the day after the super bowl that monday needs to be a holiday. >> you have to sleep it off.

>> the new orleans pelicans have had some trouble nailing down the right image for their team mascot. pierre the pelican got a nose job to yield the friendlier looking version. but now new orleans is introducing a new character, meet baby king cake. the horrifying infant is a life size version of the plastic baby figurin figurines. >> i'll go with the cheerleader on the tricycle. >> does he have teeth? two teeth in the front. little baby teeth. he's like shrek. let's get a check on your weather with bill karins. >> i don't have anything good to tell you either. my forecast is just as ugly as that was. snow around washington, d.c. and philadelphia. just like yesterday, a coating out there. it's already have a good coating of snow in northern virginia. heavier bands of snow.

it's still extremely cold. the our friends from chicago to detroit, st. louis, it's cold when you factor in the temperatures and then the windchill on top of this are incredible for this time of year. we're at minus 30 in northern minnesota. 0 in st. louis. even chicago has a windchill of minus 13. as far as the west coast, this is the only good i have in the forecast. you get the rain. the only problem is eventually that rain has to go across the country and where it's very cold it will snow. so it's just cold, and then it's going to snow this upcoming weekend in many areas of the nation. >> southern california, that's good for them. coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the president's latest message to hamid karzai. when we come back here, we huddle around the water cooler. the report er who taught viewer how to survive a bear encounter is back with another very creative report. but this one did not go over as well with her bosses. but she does definitely engage her core.

that's your deep tease. [ female announcer ] for a brilliant smile there's a breakthrough in whitening. from crest 3d white, new brilliance toothpaste and boost. after brushing, our exclusive boost polishes your smile and whitens with 3x the stain lifting ingredient for a smile that dazzles. new crest 3d white brilliance. and five simple whole grains, new multigrain cheerios dark chocolate crunch is breakfast... with benefits.

start your day with a delicious new crunch. healthy never tasted so good.

the top of show we talked about the white house prepping to pull all troops out of afghanistan by the end of the year. if you want to sound smart, tell your friends it's a monom l task to remove all the equipment.

it's going to cost more than $6 billion to bring everything back. a total of 330,000 tons of equipment has already been sent back, but 24,000 vehicles remain in afghanistan. we move on to the cooler. let's start with some great news from the music world. kold play releasing a brand new song and it doesn't sound like any coldplay song we have heard before. ♪ ♪ >> a little trippy there. the song is called "midnight." they tweeted it would be released at midnight. the band did not explain the

significance of the timing. looks like they are biz building buzz for a major announcement. more from the music world where country song from way back in the early '90s is bouncing back up the chars. it's that hot rap chart. see if you recognize the song. ♪ got me stuck on you, i swear you're 100 proof ♪ ♪ the only thing i'm asking you to do ♪ ♪ don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart ♪ ♪ i just don't think you understand ♪ ♪ and if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, it might blow up and kill this man ♪ >> that's buck 22 featuring billy ray cyrus and a lot of really scandally clad women. the original was number one, a hit on the country charts for

five weeks in 1992. that was the year that miley was born. we love it when local news reporters use their creativity to tell their stories like this affiliate from providence, rhode island. >> according to experts you should avoid direct eye contact with the bear. don't run away. instead back off slowly, wave your arms to let the animal know you're human. don't yell, stay quiet unless the bear attacks. then scream and throw things at the bear. if he attacks curl 13w50u7 a ball or lay flat on your stomach. and stay calm. >> remember her? that's the incredible reporter. she's been developing a name for herself with her style. it looks like her station and colleagues may have gotten tired of her act after her latest performance. >> i had a chance to meet a huge producer today. i had no absolutely no skills to show him. i don't dance and i don't sing. by do gymnastics. i thought to the producers

watching at home tonight how about a news reporter that does the news while she's walking on her hands. here in providence, nbc 10 news. >> that literally should be on a resume tape. the reporters union representative said she was fired for that report. the station not commenting and the reporter said she plans to fight that termination. your reports are always welcome here on "way too early." we support hand stands. look. patrick is teaching me how to do hand stands. just when you thought that ben and jerry's had thought of it all, there's this. this is the greatest. salted caramel, that's my jam, peanut butter fudge and hazed and confused. the new product offers two flavors in one pint with a special center running down the middle of the container. it may be a dream come true. still ahead, marilynman son after a strict pizza diet. tweet us the one food you could

live on exclusively forever. and "morning joe" live from washington just moments away. we give you this ear worm to gt you through your hump day wednesday. we'll cook all day today, but we're not staying in the kitchen. just start the slow cooker, add meat and pour in campbell's slow cooker sauce. by the time you get home, dinner is practically done. and absolutely delicious. everyone is cooking with new campbell's slow cooker sauces. and absolut♪ly delicious. make every day, her day with a full menu of appetizers and entrées crafted with care and designed to delight. fancy feast. love served daily. oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios

are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ kinda. transferred money from his before larry instantly bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®.

[ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪

welcome back. earlier in the show we asked what single food you could survive on. natalie is back from feeling under the weather. >> i'm feeling better. colleen said, aunt mary's scotch diet. she lost 30 pounds in a few weeks. tough to drive and go to work though. >> she really leaned out the thighs, but that belly doesn't look so good. >> gotta be the american hamburger, has all food groups if it's stacked right. that's very true. and then gary said anything chocolate. that's a good one. >> especially all the ben and jerry's stuff, those new flavors. it's fantastic. we have to say welcome back to a len. he brought me gloves back from sochi. "morning joe" starts right now.

>> a couple good friends here. and johnson. and i told the president, next game i have him. i may weigh more but i could jump. >> i could sort of hear that. could you hear that, julie? good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, february 26th. we're in washington and it is snowing. >> again. >> and more snow is on the way. anyhow, with us "new york times" reporters jeremy pierce. did you have an ambien? >> no, i have to be like